Stock Rally Will Get Real Test Friday With Jobs Report

The hot-stock boys are making hay while the sun’s shining, that’s for sure.

The major indexes are up sharply in this abbreviated session, seizing upon the thin bits of data out there, the factory orders, and auto sales. The market’s in a good-news-is-good, bad-news-is-good mood, there’s no point in fighting it. The traders sure aren’t. That’s why these are called melt-ups. But don’t mistake the market’s gyrations for some kind of all-clear signal.

The Dow is up about 50 points at 12921, putting it within striking distance of 13000. The S&P 500 is up 0.5% at 1373, and the Nasdaq Comp is up 0.7% at 2971. Energy’s having a big day, with crude-oil futures up sharply amid tension over Iran.

Caterpillar, Chevron, and Wal-Mart are leading the Dow higher. Hey, even Microsoft’s up today, and Apple kissed the $600 mark again for the first time since April.

Everything seems to be going just swimmingly. Goldman got caught looking with its June short call, proving once again the old saw about the market staying irrational longer than you can stay solvent (well, not in Goldman’s case, but you get the point.) Yesterday’s ISM manufacturing report crystallized the picture: that Europe’s triple crisis is having a visible effect on the rest of the globe.